Background: Caregivers of stroke survivors often suffer depressive symptoms that interfere with their own health. Early recognition may lead to attenuation of symptoms and better health and well-being for caregivers.
Objective: We examined characteristics of caregivers and stroke survivors associated with caregivers’ depressive symptoms in the early poststroke period.
Methods: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal exploratory observational study with a convenience sample of 63 caregivers of older adult (≥ 65 years) stroke survivors recruited from urban acute-care settings. We enrolled caregivers by 2 weeks poststroke (T1) and revisited them 4 weeks later (T2). Depressive symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. A separate unadjusted linear mixed model was computed to explore significant associations between each caregiver or stroke-survivor characteristic and depressive symptoms.
Results: Caregivers, on average, reported mild depressive symptoms at T1 and T2. Each of the following characteristics was independently associated with caregiver depressive symptoms over the first 6 weeks poststroke: caregiver uncertainty (p < 0.001), perceived stress (p < 0.001) but not cortisol levels (p = 0.858 on waking, p = 0.231 evening), coping (p < 0.001), social support (p = 0.006), race (p = 0.022), income (p = 0.001), time spent on care (p = 0.039), and stroke-survivor race (p = 0.033) and functional status (p = 0.003). At T2, caregiver depressive symptoms were correlated with evening cortisol level (p = 0.001).
Conclusions: Caregiver and stroke-survivor characteristics may help identify caregivers at highest risk for early depressive symptoms and guide interventions aimed at their resolution. 相似文献
Goals-of-care discussions are associated with improved end-of-life care for patients and therefore may be used as a process measure in quality improvement, research, and reimbursement programs.
Objectives
To examine three methods to assess occurrence of a goals-of-care discussion—patient report, clinician report, and documentation in the electronic health record (EHR)—at a clinic visit for seriously ill patients and determine whether each method is associated with patient-reported receipt of goal-concordant care.
Methods
We conducted a secondary analysis of a multicenter cluster-randomized trial, with 494 patients and 124 clinicians caring for them. Self-reported surveys collected from patients and clinicians two weeks after a clinic visit assessed occurrence of a goals-of-care discussion. Documentation of a goals-of-care discussion was abstracted from the EHR. Patient-reported receipt of goal-concordant care was assessed by survey two weeks after the visit.
Results
Fifty-two percent of patients reported occurrence of a goals-of-care discussion at the clinic visit; clinicians reported occurrence of a discussion at 66% of visits. EHR documentation occurred in 42% of visits (P < 0.001 for each compared with other two). Patients who reported occurrence of a goals-of-care discussion at the visit were more likely to report receipt of goal-concordant care than patients who reported no discussion (β 0.441, 95% CI 0.190–0.692; P = 0.001). Neither occurrence of a discussion by clinician report nor by EHR documentation was associated with goal-concordant care.
Conclusion
Different approaches to assess goals-of-care discussions give differing results, yet each may have advantages. Patient report is most likely to correlate with patient-reported receipt of goal-concordant care. 相似文献
In a prospective study, we sought to determine acceptability of linkage of administrative and clinical trial data among Canadian patients and Research Ethics Boards (REBs). The goal is to develop a more harmonized approach to data, with potential to improve clinical trial conduct through enhanced data quality collected at reduced cost and inconvenience for patients. On completion of the original LY.12 randomized clinical trial in lymphoma ({"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT00078949","term_id":"NCT00078949"}}NCT00078949), participants were invited to enrol in the Long-term Innovative Follow-up Extension (LIFE) component. Those consenting to do so provided comprehensive identifying information to facilitate linkage with their administrative data. We prospectively designed a global assessment of this innovative approach to clinical trial follow-up including rates of REB approval and patient consent. The pre-specified benchmark for patient acceptability was 80%. Of 16 REBs who reviewed the research protocol, 14 (89%) provided approval; two in Quebec declined due to small patient numbers. Of 140 patients invited to participate, 115 (82%, 95% CI 76 to 88%) from across 9 Canadian provinces provided consent and their full name, date of birth, health insurance number and postal code to facilitate linkage with their administrative data for long-term follow-up. Linkage of clinical trial and administrative data is feasible and acceptable. Further collaborative work including many stakeholders is required to develop an optimized secure approach to research. A more coordinated national approach to health data could facilitate more rapid testing and identification of new effective treatments across multiple jurisdictions and diseases from diabetes to COVID-19. 相似文献
Metformin is associated with low levels of vitamin B12 (VitB12) in patients with diabetes. The CCTG/MA.32 trial investigates the effects of metformin vs placebo on breast cancer (BC) outcomes in non-diabetic high-risk BC patients. We analyzed VitB12 at baseline and after 6 months of metformin (versus placebo) in the first 492 patients with paired blood samples.
Methods
VitB12 was analyzed centrally in baseline and 6-month fasting plasma. Levels <181 pmol/L were considered deficient, 181–221 pmol/L borderline, and ≥222 pmol/L sufficient. Methylmalonic acid (MMA) and homocysteine (HC) were assayed in those with VitB12 levels <222 pmol/L. Statistical analyses used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients and Wilcoxon signed-rank test for continuous variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables.
Results
237 patients received metformin and 255 received placebo; median (inter quartile range) baseline VitB12 levels were 390 (290, 552) and 370 (290, 552) pmol/L in the metformin and placebo arms, respectively (p = 0.97). At 6 months, the median levels were 320 (244, 419) in the metformin versus 380 (286, 546) pmol/L in the placebo arm (p = 0.0001). At baseline, 15 patients (11 metformin and 4 placebo) had VitB12 <181 pmol/L, and at 6 months, 18 patients (15 metformin and 3 placebo) (p = 0.004). Median hemoglobin was similar at baseline, metformin, 130 g/L (124–137), and placebo arms, 131 g/L (124–137) (p = 0.38), and at 6 months, metformin, 131 g/L (91–162), and 131 g/L (106–169) in placebo group (p = 0.11). Of the 74 subjects with vitamin B12 <222 pmol/L at either time point (45 metformin, 29 placebo), at baseline MMA was normal in all patients and two had elevated HC (>15μmol/L). At 6 months, one patient (metformin) had MMA >0.4μmol/L and 3 (2 metformin, 1 placebo) had HC > 15μmol/L.
Conclusions
There was an increased rate of biochemical VitB12 deficiency after 6 months of metformin; this was not associated with anemia. Further research will investigate VitB12 levels in all subjects at baseline and at 6 and 60 months.
Pediatric nurses often struggle to find ways to encourage adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) to engage in self-care that is essential to their health and life. A study of predictors of self-care was conducted to provide a stronger evidence base for nursing practice with these youth. Orem's theories of self-care and self-care deficit were tested to explain and predict the universal and health deviation self-care of 123 adolescents with CF. Four dimensions of self-care agency emerged as predictors of universal self-care, two of which were also predictive of health deviation self-care. Seventy percent of the variance or change in universal self-care scores and 40% of health deviation self-care variance were explained. Clarification and extension of Orem's theories were also an important outcome. Development of nursing interventions designed to strengthen predictors of universal and health deviation-specific self-care identified in this research holds the potential to improve length and quality of life for adolescents with CF. 相似文献